The present invention relates to a vehicle window shade. Specifically, the present invention relates to a foldable side-window shade detachably mounted on an interior surface of the vehicle.
Planet Earth is presently undergoing an accelerated heating process, accompanied by extensive damage to the ozone layer which filters out the harmful ultraviolet portion of the sun""s radiation. As a result, exposure to sunlight becomes more dangerous as it may lead to premature aging of the skin and/or skin cancer. Also, car components, typically those components made of plastic or cloth material and which are exposed to direct sunlight may deteriorate or fade in a faster rate.
Window shades are well known in the art and are traditionally used to shade a window from light, typically sunlight. The use of window shades gains a growing importance in view of the increase in ultraviolet radiation reaching the Earth.
Indeed, in view of the public awareness to the effects described above, vehicle shade accessories have been developed to reduce the exposure of the driver and the vehicle passengers to sunlight.
Such shade accessories may be broken into two main categories according to their mode of use.
One category includes those accessories which are attached to the front and rear windows of the vehicle and serve to reduce heating of the interior of the vehicle when exposed to sunlight while parked. Falling into this category are, for example, cardboard-made accordion-like devices which can be extended in use and collapsed or folded when stored and rollable screens contained in a housing attached to the front window in a rolled configuration when not in use and unrolled when used. Shade accessories in this category are typically fully opaque, some of which are even reflective and as such can only be used and are dedicated for use only in parked cars.
Another category includes those shade accessories which are attached to the side and optionally the rear vehicle windows and which serve to reduce the intensity of sunlight to which the driver as well as the passengers are exposed to while the vehicle is driven. Some accessories of this category, such as curtains, are opaque and do not meet the requirements made by certain regulations, according to which the driver must have a clear eye sight with the vehicle""s side mirrors, and by other regulations requiring that law enforcement personnel approaching the vehicle must be able to easily see the upper body portion of the vehicle occupants, both driver and passengers.
In many cases, accessories categorized under this category are made of a perforated surface, which reduces sunlight intensity, however, fails to specifically filter certain wavelengths thereof, such as the damaging ultraviolet radiation. In addition, such perforated surfaces are typically attached to the window itself via stickers or vacuum devices, limiting the use of such accessories.
One typical device is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,069 to Zip. U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,069 teaches a glare shield for automobiles consisting of a spindle having a suction cup at one end thereof for mounting on an automobile windshield or window glass at right angles to the glass surface, a series of segmentally shaped planar vanes pivoted on the spindle for movement from an angularly aligned, overlapping position to an angularly spread, fan-like position, a mechanism frictionally resisting pivot movement of the vanes, and devices operable to pivot the vanes, adjust the friction mechanism and release the suction cup, all of the devices being operable by a motorist from a single position of his hand. The device taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,069 to Zip is attached to the window itself, such that the device must be removed in order to open the window.
Although it is claimed in the above-mentioned patent that the glare shield can be affixed to a windshield, to a side window, or to any other smooth surface of the vehicle (Column 2, lines 58-59), it should be appreciated that the use of a suction cup is inappropriate when the vehicle is in motion with the window open. The wind rushing into the vehicle, along with jarring vibrations absorbed via the road surface, tend to destabilize the device. This is particularly true when the device is not mounted on the window (where the vacuum effect is relatively effective), but on the interior surface adjacent to the window, which is characteristically less smooth and less appropriate for vacuum attachment than the glass surface of the window.
Moreover, the glare shield disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 3,649,069 is disadvantageous in that both the mounting mechanism and the shield (see FIGS. 1-2 herein) are complex, bulky, such that the device is substantially impractical.
There is thus a widely recognized need for, and it would be highly advantageous to have, a vehicle side-window shade that is simple and efficient, that is securably but non-permanently deployable, that does not hinder the opening of the side window, and that continues to provide shade during and after the window is opened. It would be of further advantage to have a side-window shade that is thin and compact, such that the mounting of the shade is not is not a source of discomfort for the driver or passengers.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a side window vehicle shade comprising: (a) a sectorially deployable element having an axis of deployment, the element being spreadable from a folded configuration into a spread configuration and foldable from a spread configuration into a folded configuration; (b) a securing mechanism for securely yet detachably attaching the sectorially deployable element onto a portion of the vehicle being in proximity to the side window of the vehicle, such that by spreading the element from a folded configuration into a spread configuration a sector of the window is shaded and further such that by folding the spread configuration into a folded configuration, the sector is unshaded; and (c) means for spreading and folding the element, the means designed to self retain a partial spread configuration.
According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of shading a side window of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a side window vehicle shade including: (i) a sectorially deployable element having an axis of deployment and being spreadable from a folded configuration into a spread configuration and foldable from the spread configuration into the folded configuration; (ii) a securing mechanism for securely yet detachably attaching the element onto a portion of the vehicle being in proximity to the window of the vehicle; and (iii) means for spreading and folding the element, and (b) securely yet detachably attaching via the mechanism the element onto the portion of the vehicle being in proximity to the window of the vehicle, such that by spreading the element from the folded configuration into the spread configuration a sector of the window is shaded and further such that by folding the spread configuration into the folded configuration the sector is unshaded.
According to further features in the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the means for spreading and folding the element include a rotatable disk.
According to still further features in the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the means include a ratchet mechanism.
According to still further features in the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the means include a ratchet-type mechanism.
According to still further features in the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the ratchet-type mechanism includes a rotatable disk and a fixed disk, the fixed disk being substantially concentric and co-facial with the rotatable disk.
According to still further features in the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the rotatable disk and the fixed disk have complementary protrusions and recesses.
According to still further features in the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the ratchet-type mechanism further includes a stretchable connecting element for preventing a detachment of the rotatable disk and the fixed disk.
According to still further features in the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the sectorially deployable element includes a single, continuous fabric.
According to still further features in the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the single, continuous fabric includes means for neatly folding the fabric.
According to still further features in the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the means for neatly folding the fabric include eyelets attached to the fabric. Alternatively, the means include guide rods attached to the fabric.
According to still further features in the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the securing mechanism includes at least two clasps designed to detachably and reversibly secure the vehicle shade to an interior frame.
According to still further features in the preferred embodiments of the invention described below, the clasps are adjustable according to a width of the interior frame.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the spread configuration is characterized by a substantially triangular section shape.
According to still further features in the described preferred embodiments, the spread configuration is characterized by a substantially semicircular section shape.
The present invention successfully addresses the shortcomings of the presently known configurations by providing a side window vehicle shade which is easily, securely, and detachably mounted, is easily operated, does not limit the functionality of a vehicle window, allows the driver to maintain eye contact with the side mirrors of the vehicle and allows law enforcement personnel to view the upper body portions of vehicle occupants.
The invention is herein described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings. With specific reference now to the drawings in detail, it is stressed that the particulars shown are by way of example and for purposes of illustrative discussion of the preferred embodiments of the present invention only, and are presented in the cause of providing what is believed to be the most useful and readily understood description of the principles and conceptual aspects of the invention. In this regard, no attempt is made to show structural details of the invention in more detail than is necessary for a fundamental understanding of the invention, the description taken with the drawings making apparent to those skilled in the art how the several forms of the invention may be embodied in practice.